Life-saving garment.



W. R. PIKE & T. S. MORTON. LIFE SAVING GARMENT. APPLICATION man iuLY28.191s.

/ liTTORMEV' Patented Dec. 14, 1915.

WILLIAM R. PIKE AND THOMAS s. ivron'ron, or TUXEDO rann, new "roan.

LIFE-SAVING GARMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dee. Mt, iota.

Application filed July 28, 1915. Serial No. 42,462.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that we, WILLIAM R. PIKE and THOMAS S. Monro), citizens of,the

that they may become buoyant and present means whereby the wearer may besustained when in a body of water.

' The objects of the invention are,'first, to provide a garment whichmay be preferably made close and neat fitting, in the manner ofunderwear, having suitable openings through which the arms of the wearermay extend, the lower limbs being also engaged, the entire device beingopened and closed in the style of a coat.

Another object is to provide a device which may be worn constantly, oras occasion may require, without discoinfort or interference. with theouter clothing commonly Worn, and finally, to provide such devicesunobjectionable in appearance and arranged in such manner as to haveportions readily inflatable, the entire construction being such that itcan be folded compactly, easily carried and manufactured at a moderateexpense.

These and other objects are attained by the novel construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described and shown in the,accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, and in whichFigure 1 is a general perspective View of the device, indicatingthemanner of its applicaticn and method of inflation, and, Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional View taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing the upperportion of the garment is similar to a commonshirt, of any preferred textile fabric, provided with arm holes 10, aneck opening 11 and side por- 'tions 12 which are adapted to be disposedover thebreast or bosom of the wearer,

while immediately below are doubled portions comprised of inner andouter walls 13 and 14 arranged in the form of a band and adapted toencircle the waist of the wearer, being of such length astomeet in frontand be secured by buttons or snap fastenings 15,

similar to the constraining means 16 as applied to the upper portion ofthe garment.

-In order to hold these inflatable portions in their proper downwardposition, straps 17 are applied respectively at the front and rear ofthe casing, the lower ends of the straps being engaged with elasticbands 18, secured at their ends in any preferred manner, as the springsnaps 19, to the lower limbs of the individual making use of the device,their function being to hold the inflated belt down when in use.

The casings indicated by the numerals 13 and 14 have between them aninflatable pneumatic sack 20, preferably made of rubher or othermaterial impervious to water and air, and so arranged that whenfullyinflated, it will fill the space in the interior of the surroundingwalls.

Attached to the upper end of the casing and extending into theinflatable collapsible sack 20 is "a flexible tube 21, passing freelythrough the outer member 14 and having at its inner end a flap valve 22adapted to allow air to enter into the sack but prevent ing its returnpassage.

This tube 21 is carried up from the waist aboutthe breast of thegarment, to which it is attached by means of suitable loops 23, and isfurnished at its outer end with a mouth piece 24 having combinedtherewith worn without discomfort at any and all times and which, whennecessity arises, can be thoroughly and easily inflated as to preserveby its buoyant properties the wearer from all danger of drowning andfurthermore that the same may be used as an aid to swimming and otheraquatorial performances in general.

Whilewe have indicated a preferred embodiment of the invention, it willbe obvious that minor changes may be made from the exact constructionshown, without (18'.

parting from the scope of claims hereto appended.

Having thus described our invention, to

gether with the manner of its application and use, what we claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a garmentadapted to closely fit the bodyof a wearer, means for securing saidgarment in an adjusted position, an impervious sack combined with thelower portion of said garment, straps depending therefrom, means forengaging said straps to the lower limbs of the wearer, a flexible tubecommunicating therewith, said flexible tube extending into a positionaccessible for inflation and a flap valve at the inner end of saidtubewhereby the discharge of the compressed air is prevented.

2. In a device of'the class described, the combination with a textilefabric garment fitted to the body of the wearer, a band surrounding thewaist thereof, said band being provided with inner and outer sections,an inner impervious lining for said band, a flexible tube connectingwith the interior of said impervious lining, said tube being arranged insuch manner as to be inflated by 'for securing said garment in position,of a doubled lower section having a space between the walls thereof andconstituting an encircling belt, an inflatable sack contained in thementioned space, a tube leading from said sack to the mouth of thewearer, means engaging the lower limbs whereby said doubled lowersection is prevented from rising, a valve combined with said tube forcontrolling the passage of air and means for automatically preventingthe egress of air from said sack. a

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

WILLIAM R. PIK-E. THOMAS S. MORTON.

